Conspiracy Theories - How to deal with them ?
Discussion
One thing over the past year or so has seen a huge uptake of a number of conspiracy theories across the internet,
spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
ruggedscotty said:
One thing over the past year or so has seen a huge uptake of a number of conspiracy theories across the internet,
spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
Come up with your own conspiracy theory, possibly that conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories are the main conspiracy.spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
Post, sit back, enjoy?
Having worked 12 hours in an office with a "Flat Earther" who would fill my inbox with youtube links, website links and send me over DVD's about "How The Great Banks control us" and other stuff like "The Climate change conspiracy" I found that oddly, if you agree and nod politely, they leave you alone after a while.
I did find that sitting and trying to explain or indeed argue the reality was a total waste of time and effort on my part and nothing short of humouring them would do, thus rather than waste and hour arguing, I'd just waste a few moments agreeing and then getting on with my life.
I also found that, this approach also works very well with the Mrs. Thankfully I'm now in a different role with people who are arguably more sane and level headed.
I did find that sitting and trying to explain or indeed argue the reality was a total waste of time and effort on my part and nothing short of humouring them would do, thus rather than waste and hour arguing, I'd just waste a few moments agreeing and then getting on with my life.
I also found that, this approach also works very well with the Mrs. Thankfully I'm now in a different role with people who are arguably more sane and level headed.
Funny username said:
To answer the original question in topic title.....ignore them. Don’t go looking for them. Ignore them, and worry about something else in life.
Definitely this.Rise above it and ignore it.
A few years ago I would engage with the moronic and the misled, try to explore their point of view, and ultimately debate/argue with them about whatever nutcase theory they had.
But I quickly realised that there is simply no point. There people are not normal. They will not respond to logic, critical thinking, or evidence. They will only see what they want to see.
I now simply ignore it all, and this is far better for me.
I ignore forum threads containing conspiracies, and if anyone on my Facebook feed starts saying we haven't been to the moon, Covid is a government plot, or any other such nonsense, I simply unfollow them or unfriend them so I never have to see it again.
In person, such as a workplace or friends of friends, I simply avoid them. I make it clear, in a polite way, that I am avoiding idle chit chat with them because we have considerable differences in our world view, and that it would be better for both of us if we didn't discuss their theories. They get the hint after a short while, realise you cannot be 'converted' and move onto the next target, much like a Jehovah's Witness.
Just watch the Neflix documentary - "Behind the Curve".
Even faced with evidence their own eyes can't deny these fruit loops still believe the earth is flat.
Some of the milder government cover up type conspiracy theories have a smidge of feasibility in a double bluff kind of way that makes them mildly interesting. The more extreme ones are a bit like Sunday Sport headlines - a complete joke.
Even faced with evidence their own eyes can't deny these fruit loops still believe the earth is flat.
Some of the milder government cover up type conspiracy theories have a smidge of feasibility in a double bluff kind of way that makes them mildly interesting. The more extreme ones are a bit like Sunday Sport headlines - a complete joke.
texaxile said:
Having worked 12 hours in an office with a "Flat Earther" who would fill my inbox with youtube links, website links and send me over DVD's about "How The Great Banks control us"
Controlled by the banks....that didn't involve Jews by any chance? It's just that I've never met a conspiracy nutjob who didn't have antisemitism at the core of their utter drivel. It seems to be a universal thing that unites them all. do your own research, use your own judgement, believe what you want to believe.
MK Ultra was a whacky conspiracy theory once...
Speaking of such, did you know that QAnon is actually a US intelligence managed intervention to swing people who are traditionally distrustful of the government to actually trust the government? Or at least part of the government...
MK Ultra was a whacky conspiracy theory once...
Speaking of such, did you know that QAnon is actually a US intelligence managed intervention to swing people who are traditionally distrustful of the government to actually trust the government? Or at least part of the government...
Edited by rodericb on Monday 23 November 07:21
rodericb said:
do your own research, use your own judgement, believe what you want to believe.
MK Ultra was a whacky conspiracy theory once...
Speaking of such, did you know that QAnon is actually a US intelligence managed intervention to swing people who are traditionally distrustful of the government to actually trust the government? Or at least part of the government...
‘Do your own research’ is a line seemingly always used by nutcases. MK Ultra was a whacky conspiracy theory once...
Speaking of such, did you know that QAnon is actually a US intelligence managed intervention to swing people who are traditionally distrustful of the government to actually trust the government? Or at least part of the government...
(My apologies if you aren’t a nutcase and were just using it in jest)
When you Google ‘conspiracy theories that turned out to be true’ the list is incredibly mundane.
Lord Marylebone said:
‘Do your own research’ is a line seemingly always used by nutcases.
(My apologies if you aren’t a nutcase and were just using it in jest)
When you Google ‘conspiracy theories that turned out to be true’ the list is incredibly mundane.
Well, I was serious but I suppose there's "research" and there's research.... Is Donald Trump sitting on dossiers of information about actors, captains of industry and many government-linked people regarding child exploitation and he's going to drop it when he leaves office? Probably not. Is he "enriching himself" like some crooked third-world dictator and will escape to Mar-a-lago with billions of dollars and secede from the USA? Probably not....(My apologies if you aren’t a nutcase and were just using it in jest)
When you Google ‘conspiracy theories that turned out to be true’ the list is incredibly mundane.
rodericb said:
Lord Marylebone said:
‘Do your own research’ is a line seemingly always used by nutcases.
(My apologies if you aren’t a nutcase and were just using it in jest)
When you Google ‘conspiracy theories that turned out to be true’ the list is incredibly mundane.
Well, I was serious but I suppose there's "research" and there's research.... Is Donald Trump sitting on dossiers of information about actors, captains of industry and many government-linked people regarding child exploitation and he's going to drop it when he leaves office? Probably not. Is he "enriching himself" like some crooked third-world dictator and will escape to Mar-a-lago with billions of dollars and secede from the USA? Probably not....(My apologies if you aren’t a nutcase and were just using it in jest)
When you Google ‘conspiracy theories that turned out to be true’ the list is incredibly mundane.
If all the worlds investigative journalists, economists and scientific commentators, have access to the same public information as you do, then coming to a different conclusion to the vast majority of them is somewhat bizarre, and unlikely to be correct.
Actually, I would go so far as to say that in many cases, they have access to more slightly information than the man in the street. The man in the street only has Google.
Therefore it stands to reason that you cannot realistically have any better insight whatsoever into world events than the people writing well researched conclusions.
As for Donald Trump, all the publicly available evidence quite clearly points to the fact that he is in deep trouble financially, and possibly legally, when he leaves office, hence why he is trying anything to stay in the White House, which you could argue is indeed like the behaviour of a crooked dictator.
Did he line his own pockets while in power? Yes. Publicly available information shows us that while President, he has used public money to pay his own businesses over £2.5 Million.
None of the above is a conspiracy theory. It's just publicly available numbers and legal cases.
ruggedscotty said:
One thing over the past year or so has seen a huge uptake of a number of conspiracy theories across the internet,
spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
For a start, don't look in NP&E...........spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
TwigtheWonderkid said:
texaxile said:
Having worked 12 hours in an office with a "Flat Earther" who would fill my inbox with youtube links, website links and send me over DVD's about "How The Great Banks control us"
Controlled by the banks....that didn't involve Jews by any chance? It's just that I've never met a conspiracy nutjob who didn't have antisemitism at the core of their utter drivel. It seems to be a universal thing that unites them all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the...
Was this the first conspiracy theory? Perhaps students of history could think of conspiracy theories even older. The Medieval crusades might be a place to start.
ruggedscotty said:
One thing over the past year or so has seen a huge uptake of a number of conspiracy theories across the internet,
spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
Years ago, it was rumoured that the US Government were poisoning its own people, they were doing mind control stuff, and they were spying on their own people. All of that was promoted as a conspiracy theory.spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
Then it turns out the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was an actual thing.
Then it turns out MK Ultra was an actual thing.
Then it turns out the US Government were spying on their own people, and Edward Snowden alerted the world to it.
So given that, really, conspiracy theories are all rooted in some element of truth, it's difficult (to a point) to seperate the wheat from the chaff. There's no harm in keeping it in your head when you look at whats going on around you, but the problem is when you start to discount reality.
There are no straight lines in nature.
sgtBerbatov said:
ruggedscotty said:
One thing over the past year or so has seen a huge uptake of a number of conspiracy theories across the internet,
spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
Years ago, it was rumoured that the US Government were poisoning its own people, they were doing mind control stuff, and they were spying on their own people. All of that was promoted as a conspiracy theory.spent some time looking up Qanon and good god. indeed.
Its like a rabbit warren ! what is the point of them what is the end game with them, surely they can not be taken seriously ?
Then it turns out the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was an actual thing.
Then it turns out MK Ultra was an actual thing.
Then it turns out the US Government were spying on their own people, and Edward Snowden alerted the world to it.
So given that, really, conspiracy theories are all rooted in some element of truth, it's difficult (to a point) to seperate the wheat from the chaff. There's no harm in keeping it in your head when you look at whats going on around you, but the problem is when you start to discount reality.
There are no straight lines in nature.
As above, stuff like MK Ultra, the Snowden files are somewhat eye opening. And yes, the frogs are turning gay......
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